


Coffee Shops and Regrets (or, how Lapis Lazuli learned that life doesn't work anything like the movies.)

by ANannyMouse



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Illustrated, Illustrations, Steven Universe spoilers, based on the line steven says about lapis moving to the city, characters added to tags as they appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-06-09 13:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6908275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANannyMouse/pseuds/ANannyMouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was supposed to be simple. She had the list all planned out:<br/>1) Graduate home school (easy)<br/>2) Graduate college (not nearly as easy)<br/>3) Move to the big city and become a star.</p>
<p>She definitely didn't plan for all these roadblocks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now with illustrations!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> honestly steven practically wrote this thing himself when he started talking about lapis moving to the city

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The art accompanying this chapter: http://66.media.tumblr.com/79824c0a4e6cfc0ffe60863fe14e0470/tumblr_o7jzf4ZqsG1u318u9o1_1280.png

     It was supposed to be simple. She had the list all planned out:

       1) Graduate home school (easy)

       2) Graduate college (not nearly as easy)

       3) Move to the big city and become a star.

     What she didn’t plan for was the fact that maybe stardom wasn’t as easy to reach as the movies made it out to be. And she definitely didn’t plan for getting stuck working in a coffee shop all day and having to share an apartment with her wacky roommate.

     “…oh my god, do you think she just looked at me? She totally looked at me - oh my god, now she’s WAVING at me, I can’t believe this. Oh, wait, I should have back, I don’t want her to think I’m a weirdo-“

     Lapis grunted, “Nice to see your lady crush is going well.”

     “I do not have a _lady crush_ ,” Peridot sputtered, “ I just think Amethyst is very cool, and I would like to be her friend.”

      It was at times like this that Lapis wished she was a smoker, so she could just take a drag and stare pensively off into the distance to show her indifference. But alas, Lapis valued the state of her lungs, and thus she was left with her roommate interpreting her grunts as shouts of, “Yes, please go on! I care ever so much about you failed attempts to repress your rampant homosexuality!”

     Lapis stared at Peridot’s crush from across the coffee shop. She was studying with a thin, reedy woman, who had a complexion so light, if she were any paler she’d be a marshmallow. Amethyst noticed her staring and gave a casual nod in her direction, which Lapis returned, trying her best to ignore Peridot’s mutters of, “Why does she even hang out with Pearl all the time? I mean, of all people to hang out with. Garnet I could possibly understand, but _Pearl_?”

     Lapis gave Peridot a pat on the back that was not so comforting as much at it was mocking as she headed off to start her shift. “Wow, that is just such a shame. Well, see you later.” Peridot sighed and eventually lifted herself up and left the shop, having lost the only person she could complain to about her totally-not-a-crush. Honestly, Lapis thought, watching her leave, stardom couldn’t come soon enough.


	2. a place in your house of memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into the past.

_College had been a nightmare._

_Contrary to her belief, you can’t just pop out of living in isolation and magically gain the social skills required to navigate college. Everything blurred around her so fast and she could hardly ever tell what was going on. She hid behind her bangs and barely talked to anyone._

_Hardly the glamorous idea of college she had always harbored._

_And then_ they _came along._

_They dubbed their sorority “Homeworld”, and they were the bane of Lapis’ existence. Convinced that she was in league with their rivals, the Crystal Gems, the Homeworld girls would constantly abuse Lapis, trying to get information out of her. No matter how much she pleaded for them to stop, that she wasn’t a Crystal Gem, they refused to listen._

_Until she finally snapped. She broke the nose of one of them, and handed out plenty of bruises. Of course, that was the one time a Crystal Gem actually was nearby. She hadn’t seen the abuse Lapis had suffered through; all she saw was a wild student brawling with a bunch of Homeworld girls._

_She was reported. Apparently this Crystal Gem wasn’t even grateful that Lapis was taking out some of her rivals._

_Thankfully, she wasn’t kicked out, but it was too late. The Homeworld girls were only minimally punished, and the event stained her reputation for the rest of her time in college. At least they didn’t bother her after that. She had outgrown her timid shell. She wasn’t going to let anyone push her around like that again. The Crystal Gem who had snitched tried to apologize, but Lapis wasn’t having any of it. She didn’t want anything to do with those groups._

_In time she graduated, ready to take on the city with her skills. The teachers had adored her songs and dances, and her art had sold at a couple of shows. Surely the city would be able to appreciate her skills!_

_Wrong._

_So very wrong._

_The real world doesn’t value artists as much as Lapis would like. At least she was able to get a decently paying job at the coffee store, but that on it’s own wasn’t enough to pay her rent. The obvious solution was to get a roommate. She put up an ad, and waited for replies. She wasn’t expecting landslides of people, but maybe she would get a quiet, organized roommate who mixed her own business and left Lapis alone._

_Instead, she gets the little green midget._

_Bright green hair (which she bleached back to blonde a while later, thank GOD), a loud mouth and an entitled attitude, she was the worst possible roommate. She was also the only applicant with a pocket full of cash. Lapis had no choice if she wanted to keep her place._

_And of course, Peridot immediately assumed that just because they lived in the same house, they were suddenly friends, So Lapis got to hear every detail of Peridots day whenever she had any free time._

_Life really loved to kick her ass._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if I'm very happy with this, but it was written quite quickly, and I wanted to shove in at least a little bit of Lapis' actual backstory.


End file.
